Service and Vigil For Ross Township Victims

BRODHEADSVILLE — At Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Brodheadsville hundreds gathered for a special service and candlelight vigil Thursday night.

Some of the people there knew the victims of the Ross Township tragedy, others did not, but came to pay their respects.

Among them were the Strauchs, a mother, father and son who were on a walking trail next to the municipal building Monday night when the shooting started.

“You hear it but it takes a while to sink in, like ‘Why is somebody shooting at the township building like target practice?’ You know what I mean? Then all of a sudden it all clicked and came together and we all took off through the field,” said Eric Strauch of Saylorsburg.

“I heard people get shot from the beginning to the end, you just laid there in the back of the bushes and saw people laying down in the parking lot and to hear people get shot and you know afterwards, that’s what happened, it was very unnerving,” said Russelle Strauch.

The Strauch family is still in shock after what happened.

They came to the service to pray for the dead and the injured and to thank God for their lives.

“He could have been on that side of the building and randomly shot us, you know what I mean? But we got lucky I guess, you know what I mean? Faith. That’s what it is,” said Eric Strauch.